Harvard Appoints Its First Black President

The country’s oldest and most revered university just named its first Black leader.

Harvard University, an institution whose history dates back to 1636, is tapping Claudine Gay as its next president, the Boston Globe reported. Gay, who is currently dean of Harvard’s faculty of arts and scientists, will take over from Larry Bacow in 2023.

Per The Globe:

In a prepared video announcing her appointment, Gay spoke of her love for the institution.

“People are Harvard’s institutional strength. I want to take on this role because I believe in them and I want a Harvard that matches their ambition and promise.”

Gay, 52, whose parents are Haitian immigrants, also referenced Harvard’s obligations to society at large in the prepared video. The comments are timely, given ongoing conversations about wealthy institutions’ tax-exempt statuses.

”The idea of the ivory tower — that’s the past, not the future of academia,” she said. “We don’t exist alongside society but as part of it and at Harvard, we have that duty to lean in and engage and to be of service to the world.

Harvard naming a Black woman as president is sure to have an impact far beyond academia, because of the school’s reputation, high-profile and enormous financial means and because that institution’s history is deeply linked with slavery and other systemic manifestations of racism. Harvard has graduated eight presidents of the United States, including Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and John F. Kennedy. The school has the largest reported endowment in the world, at $51.9 billion, giving it the ability to support research and other activities on a global scale. Harvard’s president doesn’t unilaterally allocate or manage those funds but the institution’s leader does have some sway.

At the same time, Harvard has recently been under a microscope for its own role in perpetuating racism throughout the nation’s history. In April, the school announced a $100 million fund and a 134-page report detailing its ties to the global slave trade.